Faye is a... red Pug/Corgi/Dachshund She's pregnant (Not on purpose - was actually planning on getting her spayed.....) And she's due..... I'm not sure but quite soon by the looks of things.

I've built her a little nest for her for when she has them. I'm super worried she might have them outside or something and its been hellish cold here. (Snowing/Ohio Weather ) - I'm not native to Ohio - I'm actually from the south OTL

What are some things I should do to help prep and make this an easy ride for her and puppies on the way? We (my roommates and I ) may have found a home for at least two of the puppies possibly. I think she might have 3-4 but some are saying 6 and I just can't see six puppies in that round little tummy of hers.

I've never had a pregnant dog before, (Because my crew is actually fixed OTL ) Faye is kind of/Semi-mine but I wouldn't mind finding a home for her where someone is home and needs a lap dog. Mine are use to me not being home and kind of do their own thing. Faye is SUPER sweet and just an absolute love. We don't want to take her to the pound but I have my three, my roommates have two and then roommates mom has one -- so thats kind of a lot of dogs as it is. (Currently living on a farm.)

So. What should I do to make this labor as comfortable as possible for this girlie?
And how do I get her comfortable in her little nest x:

my dog a couple years ago got pregnant on accident, and now we have one more dog. so, you might want to make sure your little nest has protective walls around it, just to keep the puppies in and have them feel safe until theyre ready to climb out. be prepared to change whatever bedding is in it afterwards. when your dog is about to give birth, she'll start acting weird, hiding in places and scratching and just very obviously be looking for a nest. try and guide her to the one you have made and keep her there. it could take a while for her to give birth after that. be prepared to help, keep towels around, pet your dog, and also have some vaseline on hand. you might also want to buy some puppy formula, just in case any of them won't nurse. we weren't prepared at all and it didn't go well for us, so make sure your dog is comfy and safe and happy and youve got enough help for her

I've got a nest built for her and I kind of usher her in to it so she gets comfortable and the general idea that her little box is a safety net. She has dropped A LOT in the past few days and I can already feel puppies in her tummy ;u;

that's super good! i hope everything goes well for you and your dog :)

; ah yes, puppies. they are the biggest pains in your ass to ever exist.

first off, get her to the vet and see just how many she might have in there be it ultrasound or xrays. it's better to be safe then sorry. i've had a girl with 2 puppies left inside of her after a natural labor only to have to go back in to the vet 12 hours later for an emergency c-section where we discovered one of the pups was mummified and blocked the other pup from being born causing it to die. (i still have the mummified pup in a jar, possibly... 5 years later)

with the whelping box, constant cleaning is a must. the pups will get covered in feces and require baths once they're older (if you have a good mother she will lick them clean while they are still itty bitty). especially more so when they get older and can move around. it's a pain. trust me. i have horror stories. also, any food for the mother put in there should be placed on the opposite side of where she is actually whelping. the little things could pile up and slip and fall into it and that wouldn't be fun at all.

possibly invest in a heat lamp or two, esp. if she is outside. i'm from Ohio as well and i absolutely understand what's going on with this crazy weather. the heat lamp will provide ample heat for them. we use our heat lamps with the adjustable light slider things. it makes finding the perfect temperature for the lil pups so much easier and safer because it reduces their chances of overheating.

also, keeping an eye on whatever bedding you put in there is good. adjusting the pups so they stay on top of the covers is ideal so the mother doesn't accidentally sit on a pup and squish it. some know better, some are too exhausted to care, and others don't care at all.

keep an eye on her as a mother. not all mothers actually respond to their pups. i recommend buying a container of puppy/goat/cat/blah blah blah milk mix and doing bottle feeding every couple hours to make sure they get the necessary nutrition if you fear she is inadequate. i've had girls that didn't move for ANYTHING and one girl who escaped at the first sign of freedom. i've also had girls with late milk development and a girl with toxic milk that ended up killing an entire litter.

vaccinations are great to get once their older, esp since you live on a farm and who knows just what exactly they could be introduced to. microchips are convenient in the long run but not necessarily necessary for YOU to manage.

after about a... month or so (the ideal age to send a pup to live with it's new family is 2 months btw, and i need to check on when we actually start weening it's been about 5 years since the last litter i was actively hands on with because college) it's ok to start weening them. dog food mixed with the goat/cat/you get the idea blend is what we use. and then you slowly let that become more and more chunky after they adjust to that until they're on a fully solid food diet.

CLEANING UP AFTER THEM DAILY ONCE THEY GET MOBILE IS A MUST. they get very gross and disgusting and it's just not pleasant trying to wash off a wiggly dried furball of it's own waste. also, it's bad for their health to be in filth like that.

that's all i can think off the top of my head, but any specific questions you have i'd love for you to ask and i'll help you to the best of my abilities. (: also, sorry if this seems like a lot, i was raised in a family that breeds and shows, so dog litters are something i'm pretty familiar with and i just kinda ramble on and on about these things trying to help get any and all info i can think of in the moment out for the best help i can be.

again, please sMail or comment if you need any further advice and i hope they all make it! ❤

[edit]make sure they are using the bathroom! i cannot stress this enough. they can't use the bathroom on their own via force so it's all kind of stimulated between their dog piles and blindly scooting around and the mother licking them. our last litter the girl we lost didn't have a lower intestine and for days we couldn't figure out why she was gaining weight but not eating. if Faye is a good mommy, she will lick them until they use the bathroom and essentially eat it on the spot helping for -minimal-ish- mess. to make sure they use the bathroom, just hold em up and she'll do the rest and trust me you will know. if they don't use the bathroom that way, you can use your pointer and middle finger to stimulate either side of the spine on their lower back quickly. i use the back of my fingers as it's more comfortable for me. touching their genitals with a paper towel is also effective as well.

throwing this back in here because for some reason it deleted it.

Ohio has some pretty bi-polar weather. it snowed earlier in the week and then this coming weekend its going to be in the 60's ._____.

I pinched her nips today to see if she's began to produce milk and she has. She's also waddled into the bedroom on her own and nosing at the box a few times, still not sure what she wants to do with it lol. Due to financial struggles, I currently can't afford to take her to the vet at this time so we are kind of winging it right now. I'm SUPER stressed because I've picked up another job and am now working 9-10hours a day in between jobs and I don't want her to have them while I'm not home. (And she probably will........) Though the moment I come home shes with me so I can keep an eye on her.

I'm planning on picking up some pads and puppy forumla in between work tomorrow if I can - or at least try to get them Saturday because i'm being an overly paranoid and trying to pre plan. I have my roommate helping because her dog is the mother to Faye - but puppies weren't planned then either and they werent exactly planned now but I am excited because Puppies. while a handful I see birth as a beautiful process ><

My uncle is a breeder and uses unfolded boxes for the bedding during the birth and for a while after. I would strongly suggest this instead of any kind of fabric for sanitation reasons. Also warmth is super duper important! Keeping the babies out of drafts is a must.

If there are a lot of babies, you can try teaching them to go in a litter box with some pellet horse bedding once they're older. It really does help with the mess.

; oh yeah it's the best and worst. you never know what you're gonna get hahah

well it's good that she has her milk but with you working so much and possibly no one there to watch her, that could pose to be an issue if she isn't a decent mother because she won't stay in there with them and they'll go without eating which is very bad, obviously.

anything that can be used in the bed that's disposable is convenient. our whelping boxes are made of wood with a sticky linoleum floor and lemme tell you cleaning that thing is a bitch cause nothing absorbs the mess like puppy pads or newspaper would. and trust me, it's better to be safe than sorry.

we went to take our girl in for a c-section because she had quite a few puppies in her tummy. but, alas, she went into labor in the lobby area while we were waiting for the vet to finish prepping so you just never know when it's going to happen.

also, when they are born, you need to "whip" them. essentially it's just craddling them in one hand with fingers on either side of the neck and then you hold them from the front and you quickly and smoothly "whip" them down. (pretty sure there's a formal name but that's what i always remember it as) basically it helps clear all the liquid from their lungs and help them breathe better. (:

Faye has gone into labor tonight! More Updates to come with pictures hopefully ;u;

[Edit] The first one was breeched and we just could not get him out fast enough, he was a big boy and made for complications and did not make it. The second one is a male, looks just like his mommy and is a vivacious little thing and is currently nursing. Faye is resting at this time but we are expecting one or two more on the way.

Update: 5AM EST/ 2.23.16 She's had a total of four puppies so far, all of which are male. Two of them were breeched and did not survive it. I do not take these losses well at all .___. But the two living boys are doing well.

that's good! we had a similar experience. I'm glad two of them are alright.

; i'm happy to hear that 2 of them are ok. it's hard to take those losses when it's first hand. hopefully they are still doing well and hopefully she is being a good mother and nursing them like she should. (:

I have read every post up to this point so far. Sadly I can't contribute any tips or tiddly bits of advice :( But though I lack in in canine birthing experiences, I'm so happy to see this story unfold. Faye sounds adorable and I hope everything from here on goes smoothly with the pups and mama.

Also extensive knowledge in dog birthing is fascinating o.o You're like the midwife of pooch pregnancies .

; haha thank you. i've been involved in dog breeding since i was in the second grade. lol so it's been a while that i have enough information i can try to pass on.